CBG – Done! [NLP #3]

I’ve completed my network learning project! As I mentioned in my first and second posts, my learning goal was to create an electric cigar box guitar using only online help resources. I had to learn to build the guitar itself, some musical math to space the frets so the notes would sound true, and how to solder to install the electronics.

While I often turn to YouTube and online help forums for learning, I haven’t before restricted myself to using internet help forums exclusively. This added challenge taught be a lot about both expanding and restricting my personal learning network. This project expanded my network because I was forced to dig more deeply into online resources to learn specific skills and principles. However, my network was also more restricted, since I could only use a very small part of my overall network. For example, if I’d been learning to solder without this restriction, I would probably have looked up a YouTube video. But I would also have tweeted my friends around the country asking somebody to do a Skype session to teach me. I may also have talked to some of my very talented work colleagues in person.

In the end, I did learn to solder, build a guitar, and even figure out how to produce notes that were actually in tune. In three weeks, I was able to acquire multiple new skill sets. In learning from online resources without an instructor, I found myself engaging in much more deliberate practice. This project made me responsible for my own learning, so the stakes were higher. I practiced soldering on scrap wire while watching YouTube for a long time before I risked my newfound skills on the real guitar components. I almost didn’t realize that I was practicing much more than usual. Learning in this way made deliberate practice natural and necessary.

I also found myself evaluating online help resources more critically and usual. As another effect of taking responsibility for my own learning, I couldn’t just trust any plan for a guitar, fretting, or soldering. Before actually cutting, gluing, or taking any steps on my project, I checked my sources. Did the authors have credibility? What else had they published online? What did the commenters or reviews say on their sites and videos? I rejected several potential guitar plans after reading the comments in-depth.

Moving forward, I will continue to use online resources for learning. The constraints of this project taught me that increased responsibility for my own learning and naturally increased my deliberate practice and critical evaluation skills. In turn, these skills improved the quality of my learning (and my guitar). While my future projects won’t have the constraints of the NLP, I hope to structure projects to offer greater autonomy to the learner. For example, I’ve applied these lessons designing my 21st Century Lesson Plan to help my team at work produce their own notions of leadership together in an online notebook.

I’ve documented much of my process and my learning in a video on YouTube. I made a few mistakes along the way. For example, I did not fully understand how the guitar tuning pegs would fit onto the head of the instrument, so I ended up having to drill unattractive extra holes. While I did grow more confident in my skills throughout the project, I never learned to actually play a guitar. Perhaps that’ll be my next NLP?